Two years after Maradu demolition, Noida twin towers razed to the ground

Noida: The illegal twin towers of Noida were demolished in nine seconds by the waterfall implosion technique on Sunday following the Supreme Court order. The same procedure was earlier used in Kerala's Maradu to raze illegally constructed apartment complexes a couple of years ago.

The tallest towers to be demolished in the country -- Ceyane (29 floors) and Apex (32 floors) -- were part of the Emerald Court project of Supertech Ltd and were found to be in violation of multiple regulations regarding construction.

Demolished via a 'controlled implosion', a lot of preparation had been done to ensure minimal damage to the surroundings.

As soon as the twin towers were demolished, a huge cloud of dust was seen all around the buildings.

The dust particles could affect people's health for the next three to four days.

Therefore, specially children and the elderly people have been instructed to wear face masks.

Thousands of people gathered to watch the Twin Towers collapse and some even stood above the apartment and captured the demolition on their mobile phones.

Vipul Singh of Delhi University who specialises in environmental history, said: "After the collapse of the building, two types of dust will fly in the air. One of these will be coarse particles of dust which will fall on the ground immediately but the smaller dust particles will remain in the air for a long time since the wind is blowing. The small dust particles will remain within two to three kilometres for the next three to four days. If the wind speed increases, then the small dust particles will remain in the air for lesser tim."

"If it rains here, then the situation may turn normal soon. People will need to wear masks to avoid dust from affecting their health since it can cause serious health hazards. Small particles of cement that are not visible can harm people and could enter into their lungs which can create health problems later on."

The residents of the adjacent buildings were moved to safer places. The airspace was closed for about 30 minutes and surface traffic was also diverted.

Mumbai-based Edifice Engineering, hired for the project, carried out the demolition work and master blaster Chetan Dutta pressed the button.

Joe Brinkmann, CEO and managing director of Jet Demolitions, a South Africa-based firm along with Edifice Engineering and others, brought down the twin towers, which was one of the most difficult tasks since the building was strong and built in a seismic zone.

The twin buildings, which comprise 915 flats and are located just nine metres from Emerald Court's Aster-2 apartment block, were fully rigged with explosives and wired up.

Over 5,000 residents of Emerald Court and ATS Village were told to vacate the premises by 7.30 a.m. They will be allowed to return only after safety clearance from the officials is obtained.